The dog breeder, in his early 30s, reportedly named two dogs “Chengguan” and “Xieguan” – which refer to the job titles of local state employees.

Chengguan are urban officials who tackle low-level crime, while Xieguan are informal community workers like traffic assistants, BBC News reports.

Yingzhou Police said they launched an investigation into the man on suspicion of issuing “insulting information … against law enforcement personnel”.

The police added that he must spend 10 days in administrative detention.

The dog breeder told Beijing News: “I didn’t know the law. I didn’t know this was illegal.”